Creating your limited liability company (LLC) is a major milestone in establishing a new business. The formation of a legal company helps you build your business and protect all of your hard work. Because it’s such an important step, you must ensure the service provider helping you form your LLC keeps your specific needs and goals in mind. As one of the most recognized names in legal services, LegalZoom® provides LLC formation services that work for a wide range of budgets and businesses.

Ready to take the next step? Keep reading to learn more about the LLC formation services available from LegalZoom.

LegalZoom Pros and Cons

LegalZoom’s team of legal professionals provide reliable document preparation for everything from business formation to wills and trusts. With the ability to work in all 50 states, LegalZoom just might be the one-stop-shop you’re seeking to address your legal needs. Before you make a final decision, however, you should first consider the pros and cons of using LegalZoom’s services.

Pros of LegalZoom

Here are the top three reasons to choose LegalZoom for your LLC formation:

• It Provides Comprehensive Legal Services. LegalZoom provides so much more than LLC and business formation services — although the company’s more than 2 million business-focused customers can attest to its excellent business services. If desired, you also can work with the same LegalZoom team and use the same interface to get personal documents (e.g., wills and estate plans) as well as real estate services for both tenants and landlords.
• It Has Good Pricing for Basic Services. LegalZoom provides a lot of great options for businesses — from the most basic document preparation to all-inclusive packages. Its document preparation services start at $99 for an Operating Agreement and increase to $199 for complete coverage, including legal formation and tax documents. The lowest-tier LLC formation service starts at $79. As with most LLC formation services, you’ll need to pay state fees in addition to LegalZoom’s fees.
• It Offers Ongoing Legal Advice. If you aim to grow your business in the future, LegalZoom offers a legal protection plan for $39.99 per month. This gives you access to unlimited consultations so you can seek legal advice as new issues arise. While this plan does add to your total cost, it’s often tax-deductible.

Cons of LegalZoom

Yet, working with LegalZoom also comes with several disadvantages:

• It Has a Very Large Network. As one of the most recognized names in the industry, LegalZoom has many customers. If you’d prefer to develop a customized relationship with a boutique firm as you form your LLC, you may dislike LegalZoom’s tendency to go from step to step without addressing any additional questions.
• Its Top-Tier Services Are Expensive. You can certainly find cheaper options than LegalZoom — especially for registered agent services, which many business formation companies include for free for a year. LegalZoom’s top-tier packages cost quite a bit more than similar offerings from competitors without providing many extra features. If you have a tight budget, consider using another company for ongoing services and LegalZoom for your LLC’s initial formation or as needed.
• It Charges More Than Some Competitors for Faster Processing. Most LLC formation companies allow customers to pay for faster processing times, but the target times of LegalZoom’s three pricing tiers differ quite a lot. Its basic package includes a processing time of 30 days — much longer than most other similarly priced options on the market. If you want a faster processing time, you’ll need to pay at least $250 more.

 LegalZoom Pricing and Packages

LegalZoom offers three levels of LLC formation pricing with its higher-tier packages providing more services and faster processing times.

 

The LegalZoom Economy Package

If you just want the most basic LLC formation service and don’t mind waiting 30 business days for processing, it’s hard to beat the LegalZoom Economy package for $79 plus state fees. It comes with the required filing documents for your state, a financial authorization document, your Articles of Organization, and LegalZoom’s “Peace of Mind” guarantee. It’s a great price for the numerous documents you’ll receive plus a guarantee of accurate processing. All LegalZoom packages come with a 60-day, money-back guarantee in case you aren’t completely satisfied with the company’s work.

In an effort to get you to pay for additional services, LegalZoom provides a free, 30-minute tax consultation via phone, a guide to your next steps as a new business owner, and a monthly newsletter. These are all great resources — especially if you’re less experienced with operating a business. Just be ready to have LegalZoom direct you to paid services it deems essential for keeping your business running smoothly.

The LegalZoom Standard Package

As the company’s mid-tier option, the LegalZoom Standard package reduces the required document processing time from 30 to 15 business days — a pretty drastic difference. This package also includes a fancy document storage kit to help you organize all of your formation paperwork. You’ll also receive an embosser and membership certificates with your business name on them.

But, this package costs quite a bit more than the LegalZoom Basic package while the extra resources it includes are largely ceremonial and won’t impact your business’s function. At $329, this package doesn’t offer much additional value beyond a faster processing time. If expedited processing is essential for your business, you may find its higher price worthwhile.

The LegalZoom Express Gold Package

The fastest processing time available from LegalZoom — 10 business days — comes with the LegalZoom Express Gold package. When you choose this package, LegalZoom places your business at the front of the line for LLC formation and document filing. The company also will ship your completed documents to you using the fastest shipping method available.

At $349, this option costs just $20 more than the LegalZoom Standard package. But, it doesn’t include any additional perks or services beyond the speedier processing and document shipping. If you really want to form your LLC as quickly as possible, this package may be worth the additional cost. Like the other two options, the LegalZoom Express Gold package comes with a 60-day, money-back guarantee so you can recoup your investment if the service doesn’t live up to your expectations.

LegalZoom Reviews Across the Web

Indeed

Indeed gives LegalZoom a rating of 3.5 out of five.

BBB

An impressive 2,483 reviews on the Better Business Bureau® website give LegalZoom a rating of 4.25 out of five plus an overall “A” rating.

LegalZoom Alternatives

We rank LegalZoom as fifth in our review of the Best LLC Services. Other services that competed against LegalZoom include:

• ZenBusiness
• Bizee
• Northwest Registered Agent
• Inc Authority